Insulo and Kaskaskia (USNW)

This Update will be all the background on Insulo, this is the same info used for my COFR Application. Sorry to bore you with details:

Factbook
Political
Name (Official): Republic of Insulo
Name (Short): Insulo
Union Membership: Yes (COFR)
Capital: Cxefurbo (Until January 1, 2011) Erikkson (After January 1, 2011)
Political Divisions: Provinces (East Insulo - 12 Counties, Middle Insulo - 8 Counties, Okcidenton - 6 Counties, and Varmeta - 4 Counties)
Government: Federal Republic
President: Timothy Clarke
Vice-President: Andrés Garcia
Assemblies: 3 (Lower Senate - Members per County - Popular Election, Upper Senate - 15 Members per Province - Popular Election , Parliament - 5 Members per Province - Elected by Senators from respective Provinces)
Highest Court: Supreme Court (American System)
Presidential Terms: 5 years, 2 Maximum (Next Election 2014)
Vice-Presidential Terms: 5 years, 3 Maximum (Chosen by Parliament)
Senatorial Terms: 2 Years, 8 Maximum (Yearly Elections for Half of each Senate)
Parliamentary Terms: 5 Years, No Maximum (Selection Coincides with Presidential Inauguration)
Major Political Parties: Parties not Allowed
People and Culture
Population: 11,023,000 (Census 2005)
3 Largest Metros: East Insulo Triplet Cities - Erikkson (4,040,000), Nueva Valencia(2,200,000), and Scio(70,000) (6,310,000), Cxefurbo (2,591,000), and Okcidenton (760,000)
Official Languages: English, Spanish
Major Languages (Percent Spoken, 1st and 2nd): English (90%), Spanish (49%), Arabic (7%), and Other (5%)
State Religion: None
Major Religions: Christianity (89%), Islam (8%), Judaism (<1%), and Other (<1%)
Major Ethnicities: English (44%), Iberian - Spanish, Portuguese (44%), Moroccan (9%), and Other (3%)
State Holidays: Victory (Fuerta Azul) Day (January 7), Discovery Day (July 17), and Republic Day (November 6)
Geography and Climate
Map (Location):


Map (Political):


Area: 21,683.56 km²
Water Authority: 100 km of Atlantic Ocean from Coastline, Gulf of Insulo, and Various Bays.
Borders: Atlantic Ocean
Climate: Temperate (Although it is at a high latitude, the Gulf Stream keeps Insulo fairly mild, although the Northwest can get quite cold in the Winter. The Island can also be hit by fierce storms in the Winter, there is little snow, sleet and freezing rain can cause major problems)
Time Zones: GMT -2
Highest Point: Alexander Hill (150m)
Lowest Point: Atlantic Ocean (0m)
Economy and Transportation
Currency: Insulo Valuto
Paper Currency Design:


National GDP: 473.014 Billion USD
GDP per Capita: 43,000 USD
GDP by Sector: Services (73%), Industry (25%), Agriculture (2%)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6%
Transportation Authority: Insulo Department of Transportation
National Highway System: Trans-Insulo Expressways (TIE's), Insulo Highways (I-Ways)
Percent of Car Ownership: 84%
Percent Roads Paved: 99%
Percent Public Transportation Users: 71%
Metro Areas with Commuter Rail: 4
National Airline: None (Planning Stages)
International Airports: 2 (Cxefurbo International - CXX, and East Insulo International - EII)
Regional and Municipal Airports: 12

National Symbols
Flag:


Coat of Arms:


National Animal: Atlantic Puffin
National Color: Blue (Hex: #2f4054)
Motto: "Solvo Terra Fraterculus" - "Free Land of Little Brothers" or "Free Land of Puffins"

History
Discovery
The Island was first discovered in 907 CE by Norse explorers from Scandinavia, lead by Erik the Red. They landed on Hlífumtangen (Cape Madrigal) during a strong storm for shelter, hence the name they gave the cape. They lost at least one ship during the storm, and left a small group behind on the island, which moved west in search of more fertile soil and a more sheltered harbor. They eventually found a place near the town of Simmon, and built a small settlement. There is evidence that there might have been native people living on the Island, but it is suspected they were eliminated by disease and attacks from the Scandinavian settlement. The settlement was extremely isolated and remained virtually unchanged until the 15th century CE, largely because the documentation of the settlement was lost in a fire on a ship sailing back from Greenland to Scandinavia, and the distraction from disease outbreaks experienced in Greenland that claimed Erik the Red’s life.
Spanish Settlement
The Spaniards arrived on the island in 1436 CE, and established a settlement on the eastern portion of the Island (near where the Norse Exploration party had taken shelter) and called it Nueva Valencia, after the home city of the leader of the Expedition, Carlos Barrera. After exploring the Island they realized they were not alone, and attempted to convince the older Scandinavian settlers (who had not heard from the outside world in more than four centuries, and now numbered around 1,000) to convert to Catholicism and cede their land to the crown. They resisted, and were put to siege by the Spaniards who were much more technologically advanced, and quickly extracted a surrender. The island, now called Isla Frailecillos, flourished, especially during the inquisitions as it became a refuge for the groups being persecuted in mainland Spain. The island escaped the inquisitions until 1579 CE, when Phillip I decided that it had gone long enough, and sent an army to the island to force conversion of the non-Catholics living there. However, the army was held up by the rebellion in the Spanish Netherlands, and arrived on the island in late November, the cold was almost unbearable to the Spanish soldiers, and to further assist the residents of the Island a large storm hit the Island a few days after the Spanish landed. Although they initially submitted to the Spanish demands, the islanders took advantage of the storm to rise up against them, and force their surrender after besieging them for a month in Fuerte Azul. Only 29 of the 700 soldiers survived the incident, and the now rebels declared a resounding victory, and quickly declared independence from Spain. Phillip, struggling with funding his vast empire and numerous wars, and under pressure from the public, recognized them as an Independent country. They created a flag with the island’s namesake Puffin in the center surrounded by White for peace and Blue to commemorate the battle where they defeated the Spanish.
The Republican Monarchy
The First Republic of Insulo became independent on January 11th, 1580 CE by a formal treaty with Spain negotiated in the city of Troyes, France. The government still had a Monarch, but the power mostly rested in the hands of the Parliament. The first King of Insulo was Fernando I of Nueva Valencia. In the 1640’s there was a large influx of English citizens fleeing the Civil War and the reign of Oliver Cromwell, and soon they nearly outnumbered people of Spanish descent in the country. The Republican Monarchy worked very well until 1801, when a movement for complete removal King Francisco II prompted him to seize complete power with the Military and form an Absolute Monarchy thus ending the First republic of Insulo.
The Esperanto Republic
After almost a Century of absolute rule, in 1893 CE the people of Insulo, tired of the King’s decrees and angered by a decrease in trade due to a depression in their largest trading partner, The United Sates, overthrew King Alexander I. They installed a government based loosely on the United States Constitution, and adopted the constructed language Esperanto as the new official language, and renamed the country Insulo, the Esperanto word for Island. This action was extremely unpopular with the common people, who spoke English and Spanish, but the leaders had exploited the Constitution because it did not allow anyone with less than a college education run for Office, they made Insulonian Colleges teach only in Esperanto, making it nearly impossible for the language to be changed by a parliamentary vote. Gradually, the government became stricter and stricter about the use of Languages, and in 1937 CE they banned the use of any language other than Esperanto for place names. They went too far in 1983 CE, banning the use of non-Esperanto names. The enraged populace began fighting the government, and in 1985 CE removed it from power, and formed the current government, the Third Republic of Insulo.

Teaser Pictures
Finally some teaser pics just to reward you for reading (hopefully) this whole thing.







Closing Comments
This new CJ will be a redo of the previously failed Insulo CJ on Simtropolis.
International Events Hosted: Chihiro 2010 Simlympics Torch Relay - Leg Seven
This CJ should alternate between weekly and bi-weekly updated depending on how busy I am.

I look forward to it being here

Looking good, in the last picture where are those apartments from?

Canuck: Thank You, I'm glad it can be here.

K50: http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=11417 There's other variations too, just search "Lofts" on the STEX.

nice usage of the NAM turning lane mods and lots it adds a lot of realism to that stretch of road shown in the last photo

Very Nice looking base there

Sorry I haven't been able to make a proper update this week. I don't have anything more than a teaser today, to wet your appetite for an entirely new region of Insulo, Okcidenton.




This pic is in the SC4d Picture competition right now, so if you like feel free to vote for it if it's still up.
Hope you like it. I'll have a full update about either Erikkson or Scio soon, depending on which I'm feeling like this weekend.

Another teaser, I know, I know. Anyway, hope you like it.



It's from La Palma, an autonomous territory of Insulo in the Canary Islands, acquired from Gansbaai recently, much of the island, including the area in the picture, is protected by National Parks. Also, below is the flag of Insulonian La Palma, the crest is the real life crest of La Palma.



Happy Holidays Everyone!

-Jon

very nice pair of teasers somehow I missed the last one

Hello Everyone, finally a complete update, this one I've been teasing for a while, my first update on my very lose re-creation of the Island of La Palma, which I'm really having fun with, it let's me do something different than I usually do, and gives me a lot of creative mobility. This doesn't mean Insulo is dead, this is still part of Insulo, and we'll get back to the mainland eventually, better to spend winter in the tropics anyway .

So, for this first view of La Palma we'll explore the area around the little town of Las Mariposas, wedged between beautiful beaches and the towering volcano that produced their glimmering black sand.

We'll start High on the mountainside, in one of the numerous nature preserves on the La Palma. The island supports a vast variety of Flora, some of that variety can be seen here.



We follow the road down the hillside, and to the entrance to the preserve, where a small picnic area for the people who come to see the natural wealth of the Island.



Now we move on to the pleasant little town most visitors to the park use as a home base, Las Mariposas. They take advantage of the many rooms rented out by local families, where they can get homey comforts and a low price.



As you can see, the town has it's own charms, it's been here for hundreds of years nearly unchanged, the whole town is protected as a historic site, especially guarded is it's church, built in the year 1523.



Oh, we almost forgot the best part of Las Mariposas, it is close to one of the best most pristine and beautiful beaches you will find anywhere, with it's black sand sparkling in the tropical sun.



Well that's all for now, hope you enjoyed this little tour, I enjoyed making it.

-Jon

Very nice and you gotta love that ability to stretch out and be creative it's one of the reason's I made the Lacroix Islands in the South Pacific

To view this Newspaper properly you need a real browser, like Opera or Firefox. I recommend Opera 11, click here to get it. I may be using this image format in the future in my CJ as well, as it is much more versatile than .GIF.

Hi there 2b2gbi! I was just looking at your CJ and it's pretty cool! Being a fan of space-related stuff, there's one thing that kind of didn't make sense. You said that you have no launch pads due to your high altitude. Well, that didn't mak sense to me because it's perfectly fine to have a launch pad at a high altitude, as long as you launch your craft into a polar orbit, which has many advantages for sattelites and (from my point of view) potential space tourists. Could you clear up for me exactly why you don't have launch pads? Thanks! (btw, no offense was meant by the above )

Replies:

EmporerDaniel: Insulo will soon have it's own launch pads, and it's moved to a lower latitude anyway.

Welcome the city of Alcelago on the eastern border of Insulo with Posillpo, a portion of the city is actually in Posillipo. This is an interesting city, in 1934 a massive earthquake destroyed every building in the city except the tiny chapel now in the center of the Main Street Plaza, and drained Alcelago's namesake lake. The city was rebuilt in the style of the time with large parkways to allow for easy walking and space for events.. The city is the former capital of Republic of Bascla, which joined Insulo after the earthquake devastated the country. Bascla is currently seeking representation as a separate province from Los Lagos.


An overview of the center of Alcelago, with the rebuilt Basclan Capital Building at the top and the Survival Chapel at the intersection near the bottom.



The newest buildings in Alcelago glisten in the sun. From left to right you see the Atlantica Financial Branch, the Ramos and Sons Architectural Firm, the Sunspire Hotel, and at the bottom right the top of the new TeleInsulo Headquarter, which moved to Alcelago in July 2010. On the far left you can see the Villate Real Hotel, one of the most renowned hotels in all of Insulo.




The Capital subway station and the Border arch that stands between Insulo and Posillipo. The border between Insulo and Posillipo is a completely open border.



A stretch of gravel mountain road outside of Alcelago, drivers have to be careful here as there is a chance of falling rocks.


Hope you enjoyed this update, it was again something I hadn't really tried before with the mountain but I think it came out great, I like working in this region as much if not more than in La Palma, so you're likely to see a few updates at least from here.

- Jon

In this update we are again visiting the border city of Alcelago, which straddles the border between Insulo and Posillipo. All the areas showm in this update are inside Insulo.

(Note: Just to point out, I do have Chip's Permission to display parts of Posillipo I have created)

...Yaaaaaawn... Time to wake up. Wow it's foggy outside, I can barely see the dried pond from my cabin windows.


Well that fog lifted quckly, it's now a bright monday morning, here you can see an overview of the area we'll be exploring today.


*Eating Sounds* Mmmm, Nothing beats the breakfast burrito at Winnie's Drive-In, the Drive-In is famous for good food delivered quickly, and is a popular hangout for the students from the High School just down the street.


Here you see the Library of Bascla and the First Basclan Bank, with a newer quaint shopping district in the background. The first Basclan Bank was one of the first buildings rebuilt after the earthquake, and helped finance much of the relief effort by the charity of it's founder F.K. Morgani.


Alcelago General Hosptital Towers over it's surroundings. Built in 1963, it is still one of the largest Hospitals in Insulo, and people come from all over the country to visit it's Cardiac Specialists.


Finally we see the fuel behind all the small shops and restaurants in this area, Alcelago Central High School, the largest High School in Alcelago.



As always, I hope you enjoyed this update. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, and comments are much appreciated.

-Jon

Looks like I have a contender for my Trixie! Nice work with the newspaper, the texture looks superbly realistic!

Bruce wrote:Looks like I have a contender for my Trixie!

Stop rubbing it in.... (by the way Bruce, you do know who wrote that quote on your Trixie, right?)

No...

(btw, Portland lost 3-1 to Colorado, who we beat 3-1 in a preseason game weeks earlier)

Bruce last I checked you lost 2-0 to us and you lost to LA on your first game too, so stop griping.

Also, that one quote.... ya that was mine

Great paper!